12 Imposter

It took them a few days to come to terms with their new positions. While spending most of their free time together was a blessing they got very quickly accustomed to, it was quite different when it came to confronting other people. Most vocal, as expected, was Draco Malfoy.

"If Potter got his own apartment, so should I," he told the Headmaster.

"As far as I can tell, you're not Lord Malfoy yet. Your father is still alive, or have I missed some news?"

"Of course he's alive. Why should that matter, though?"

"Since he's alive, then he is Lord Malfoy. You are his apparent heir, but you have no special rights as such."

"Then why did you give Potter his own lodging, along with those girls?"

Dumbledore tried to keep his voice neutral and his face calm. It would not be right to just laugh at this boy's combined arrogance and ignorance. "Mr. Potter got his Lordship, mainly due to not having any live parents. He's also magically wed to the girls, making them all eligible for family lodging. You aren't married already, are you?"

"Of course not. I've not found any girl worthy of me yet."

Dumbledore put on his grandfatherly face. "Well, then, as you're not a Lord and not married either, there's no reason to give you your own lodging."

"But I'm a Malfoy!" the blond boy insisted.

"True, and just like your father and your grandfather, who were perfectly happy at the dorms, you'll stay there."

"My father will hear about this!" the boy threatened.

"I dare say that he already knows. Lord Hogwarts has just dismissed the board of directors and has taken control of the school. Your father has no longer any saying in how the school handles things. You may apply to Lord Hogwarts if you like."

"Who's that?"

"I thought you knew – he also holds the Potter Lordship."

Dumbledore kept his stoic expression long enough for Draco to storm out of the office, and then burst laughing. It was a very good feeling to be rid of this boy and his father.

..

Ron didn't make it too easy either. "You're too young. You can't really be married," he insisted, when Harry told him the news.

"You know that Magic cannot be restrained by laws. As we're magically bound, the law recognizes it. Not only that, as being married is something that only adults do, now that we're married, we're considered legally adults."

"But you're only fourteen. You can't be adult already!"

Luckily, Fred and George took Ron aside. Harry wasn't sure if they made him understand or just made him shut up. He felt thankful anyway.

..

Normal school schedule resumed, and they were soon sitting in the DADA class. Since the holidays, both Padma and Susan had changed their schedule to take most lessons with Harry. This was one of them. As usual, Professor Moody was giving the lesson in his regular way, limping to and fro in the class and barking "Constant vigilance!" whenever somebody seemed too content. Harry noticed that his rings got real hot whenever Moody was near. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure to consult with his wives as soon as they were alone. Looking at them, he also saw some puzzlement in their expressions. He wondered what caused it.

"Have you noticed anything peculiar during DADA?" he asked, once in their own dorm.

"I felt my ring heat," Susan said. "That is normally a sign of danger, a warning. Lord and Lady rings have some very complex magic embedded in them, to identify dangers to their owners. They usually warn against spiked food or drinks and against disguised enemies." She gasped at the implications. "Do you think Professor Moody may be a disguised enemy?"

"That's certainly a possibility. The man is weird any way you look at him," Harry said.

"My ring got hot when he was near, just like Suzy's," Padma said, "and I agree that this is a sign of danger. It could be some potion in his flask, though. He never seems to let it stay away from him."

"Mine heated too. I could barely keep it on my finger – it almost scorched my skin. The danger must be very grave and very close," Hermione noted. She gave it a moment of thought. "Well, as Padma said, it's either Professor Moody or his flask. We can use a switching spell to get a few drops from his flask and check them. If they don't cause our rings to heat…"

The other possibility, although much less pleasant, was self-evident.

"Well, his flask contains about two cups. If we take a small vial of water, holding no more than a tenth of a cup, it won't dilute the contents of the flask enough for anybody to notice, but that amount of liquid will suffice for checking," Padma said.

They had their next lesson a few days later. By then, they had found a vial of the right size and Hermione filled it with distilled water, so it won't cause any harm. She also practised doing the switching charm silently. It wasn't completely silent, as she was still saying the spell, but emitting no sound and barely moving her lips. She still worried that Moody might discover her deed, using his magical eye.

Things went their way, though. Surprisingly, Moody had his lunch in the great hall, just before their class. Hermione, under the cover of all the noise and the hassle, pointed her wand at Moody under the table. As he turned his attention to another teacher who joined the table, she quickly cast her spell. By the time Moody was looking back at the students, her wand was stowed in her pocket, along with the vial. She passed by their apartment on the way to the DADA lesson and left the vial there, so Mad-Eye would not find it on her, even using his magical eye.

This time, they each sat at a different table. Harry sat with Ron, Hermione chose to sit with Neville, Padma sat with her twin and Susan chose to sit with Lavender instead of Parvati. They still felt their rings heat whenever Moody was near. When he touched Harry, patting his shoulder, Harry could almost cry of pain, as the rings became unbearably hot.

The rings stayed cool when the switched vial was put near them, though.

"It must be Moody who causes them to heat," Hermione said, skipping the "professor," once her suspicion rose.

"What's in the vial, then? Does any of you know how to identify it?" Susan asked.

"There are some spells, but they can usually only identify poisons or drugs that may change one's feelings, like love or loyalty potions," Padma said, sounding reluctant.

Hermione uncorked the vial and sniffed its contents. "It's Polyjuice potion," she said with confidence.

"How do you know?" Susan asked.

"I don't even know how it smells," added Padma.

"I brewed some during the second year. It worked as expected on both Harry and Ron. I spent so much time brewing it, that I can easily identify it by smell." She then frowned. "If this is really Polyjuice, then it means that Professor Moody is not really himself. He's an imposter."

Padma was still stuck in the first sentence. "You brewed it during our second year? That's post NEWT level, you know."

"It's not too difficult if one follows the instructions carefully," Hermione noted. "It was time-consuming, though, and I was lucky I was able to do it right. Now, what shall we do about the imposter?"

Padma looked like she had a million more questions she wanted to ask, but she put them aside and concentrated on the matter at hand. "We may be able to handle it by ourselves, being Lord and Ladies and owners of the school, but I'm not sure that is advisable."

"I think we should tell auntie. She really appreciates Moody – the real one – and she may be very interested in this from a personal, as well as professional, point of view. She can handle this, I'm sure."

"The real Moody is probably still around, as some of his hair is needed for the potion and the imposter cannot have a large enough supply without the real person around. He's not hairy enough for that," Hermione noted.

"Shouldn't we tell Dumbledore too? He's supposed to be Moody's friend. I wonder why he didn't get suspicious until now," Harry said.

"We may need Dumbledore's cooperation, but not right now. He's too absorbed in other matters and may fail to act promptly enough, giving the imposter a chance to get away," Hermione noted. "I think we should owl Madam Bones and let her decide on the proper action. We may help her, going between her and the headmaster, to keep it as low profile as possible until we strike."

Susan beamed at her. "You sound a lot like my auntie, when she plans an operation. We may go talk to her, and nobody will suspect it if she comes to check on me at school, now that I'm married."

They used the floo in their apartment, now already connected, to call Madam Bones and explain everything to her. She had quite a few questions and then agreed to cooperate. "I'll come during the weekend, making it less suspicious."

That Saturday, she arrived at Dumbledore's office soon after breakfast. She explained everything to him and assured his cooperation. She then met the Potters publicly, kissing Susan in a motherly fashion and acting much more reserved with the others.

Four Aurors arrived at the headmaster's office about an hour later. Two stayed there, well hidden behind some furniture, while two others moved to the corridor and hid there well. Once they were done, not even Dumbledore, who knew where they were, could find them. Half an hour later, as previously agreed, he summoned Moody to his office, to discuss some security issues for the upcoming second task. "We may benefit from Madam Bones visiting her niece to get her input on these issues as well," he added.

It then went like a well-oiled clockwork. Moody arrived as planned. He didn't notice the hiding Aurors despite his magical eye, probably because he didn't suspect anything. A few minutes later, Amelia Bones joined the conversation. "I'm very concerned about some troublemakers using polyjuice potion to penetrate our security, disguised as some students or even teachers." She turned to Moody. "I'm sure you agree with my concerns."

He didn't seem to be affected. "That's a disturbing possibility, yet there's no sure way to find if somebody is using that potion or not, and the only antidote I've heard of has too many side effects to be used in such way. We'll have to be extra careful and check whoever leaves school from now on as well as those coming back, to make sure they are the same people."

"Actually, the DMLE found a better solution. It still needs to be thoroughly tested, though. Let me show you."

Madam Bones took three vials from her purse. She opened one and drank its contents, making a sour face. "It doesn't taste nice, like most potions, but you can see that it has no other effect on me." The vial only contained water, actually. "Why don't you both try it too?"

Dumbledore took one vial and handed the other to Moody, who refused it. "I'm afraid it might interfere with the medical potions I'm taking regularly. It's still untested, as Madam Bones said."

Dumbledore had his wand trained on Moody before the other had time to think. "I'm afraid I must insist," he said.

Moody seemed to panic. He tried to grab his wand, only to find his hand restricted by the very efficient Madam Bones, while another person who seemed to appear out of thin air grabbed his wand and took it away. A moment later, his flask was also grabbed, and another Auror sniffed its contents. "I'd say it's polyjuice, no doubt about it," he said.

Moody looked at Dumbledore and tried to appeal to him. "This is no way to treat an old friend and ally, Albus. Please tell them to leave me alone."

"Are you really a friend and an ally? Are you really who you seem to be?" Dumbledore chuckled humorlessly. "I'm sorry to admit that you managed to fool me for far too long. Now, take the vial."

With four wands trained on him, Moody moved slowly, took the vial and drank it. Unlike the other two, this one contained a fast-acting sleeping potion. He fell asleep even before finishing the whole vial.

An hour later, after rescuing the real Moody from his makeshift prison and putting him in the hospital wing, after having interrogated the fake one under Veritaserum and then sent him back to Azkaban, well tied and escorted by four Aurors, Madam Bones rejoined the Potters and also stayed for lunch with them.